Category Archives: Get Off My Lawn

Disheartening news just came though the /. newsfeed; Zynga, the publishers of so many of the Facebook games out there, has sued and settled with Vostu, a game company in Brazil.

The suit claimed that Vostu copied elements of Zynga’s copyrighted material (logo, website design, game design, etc…). Not the smartest idea, in my opinion, but then, we’re looking at the pot calling the kettle black. Vostu has stated right back that Zynga stole what they are being sued about.

But, for all the copying and screaming of “I don’t want f**king innovation!” (thank you Mark Pincus), Zynga is not the only company doing this. Last month, SpryFox has filed suit against 6Waves LOLAPPS for the infringment, code theft, and complete a$$hattery surrounding the games Tripple Town (SpryFox) and Yeti Town (6Waves LOLAPPS).

Before I leave you with the official court document, I have a new entry to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

Earth – The Internet

Casual Games: None.

Granted, these kinds of things are being created all the time. However, they are all the same game, and the myriad of delicate changes to the interface make new “copyright” filings, and thus “new” games are being created. In greater scope of the Internet, the “casual gamer” is always searching for a newer, better version of the game they are currently playing, no matter the minute changes, or who the new game producer is.

For a similar comparison, see “First Person Shooter, War Depiction Game”, also known as Battlefield and Call of Duty.

To that point, do any of you remember Duke Nukem 3D? Followed by the promise from 3D Realms to produce a fantastic, state of the art (Quake/HL/UT engine based) Duke Nukem Forever? Something like 14 years ago?

The Ars Technia review takes DNF and makes it out to be as horrible a gaming experience as an alpha release. A commenter on Slashdot got the idea that Ars was claiming DNF was “Halo with tits”.

Ummm…. yeah? It’s Duke? Durrrr…..

No, it’s not going to be a best seller, it won’t even be a great game (save a few mods that may come out later). It’s not meant to be. It’s a 14 year old game. For 14 year olds. Who already play Halo, and curse worse than a sailor (my brother is one, I work with one, and my grandfather was one, and they wouldn’t utter what some of these kids spit out).

So yeah, get off my lawn. Loose a pair (yes, become pre-pubescent). Go play Duke 3D. Than go play DNF. It will become clear what you have done.